Conference 7.286::golf

    I find that true, MH.  If I'm really thinking about my grip, my
    stance, the slice I'm about to hit, the trap and water and everything
    else, I'm just not relaxed and don't hit a good shot.   Many times
    I've hit a bad drive off the tee, walked up to the next shot
    disgusted and, without even thinking about it, CRANKED a fairway
    3 wood right down the middle.  I'm trying to develop the relaxed
    attitude each and every time I address the ball (Hello Ball!) but
    it ain't easy.
    
    Len

    the good doctor is only telling some of us what we already know
    or have experienced through trial and error. Theory is great but
    the best teacher in the world is experience. Knowing the theory
    gives a good reference point but you still have to experience it
    yourself.
    
    Ever try to pin down an "expert on a given subject" to the details?
    
    In a lot of cases they know all the theory but have NEVER done it
    themselves...makes a BIG difference.....
    
    just my opinion

  >  I'm trying to develop the relaxed
  >  attitude each and every time I address the ball (Hello Ball!) but
  >  it ain't easy.
  >  
  >  Len


re .1
	Len,
	
	As I read your message I could relate to what you were saying as I
have had similar experiences myself. I also had an interesting thought as I
read your last statement "but it ain't easy". First off I would like to 
make clear that I believe having the "relaxed attitude", as you put it Len, 
is the key to having an enjoyable and successful golf game. My thought was, 
I wonder if developing the "relaxed attitude" is really all that difficult, 
or do we just choose to see it as being difficult. So maybe for Len and I 
the first step to creating this "relaxed attitude" is to not see obtaining
that attitude as a difficult task. Just some of my thoughts....

					
				-Paul

    
    Relaxing is something I would really like to do when I Golf but I am so
    competitive I have a hard time with it. I start getting all fired up on
    the way to the course I can hardly wait to get there, I can hardly wait
    to hit that first drive. I really expect alot from myself and probably
    cause bad shots from not being relaxed. I probably look relaxed but on
    the inside I am totally wired. Now this is if I am playing alone or
    with a friend with nothing on the line. When I am playing in a match
    it's like I'm playing for life it self. Now don't get me wrong. I am
    alot of fun to play with. I will always encourage my opponent or
    whoever I play with. To me it is more important that everyone has an
    enjoyable day and the guy who hits the better shots will win,not the
    guy who hits the most bad shots looses. But on the inside I am a
    tenacious competitor. I mean if we are playing a match you can be
    guarenteed that I can be five down with five to play and feel I can
    win. See, I'm just talking about it and I'm getting all worked up. 
    
    Anyway, I am going to try to relax this year and work a little routine
    to help me. Like drink a six pack before I play. 
    
    Got about a foot of snow last night. What timing I just got mt new
    clubs.
    
    Pete

    well ladies and gentlemen, isn't "relaxation" all part of the
    affliction "golf"? Sure, there isn't anything about golf that doesn't
    LOOK easy...except maybe trying to hit a ball that's nestled up against
    a rock. But trying to do it and do it consistantly, that's the thing!
    
    The same thing with relaxation...you just sliced the drive into the
    woods, a bird felt nature's call while you were underneath him
    preparing you second shot. After you finally hack your way to the
    fringe, line up the shot to the pin, you hit about six inches behind
    the ball and it only goes two feet. And how many of us have been able
    to sink all of our two foot putts? Oh yeah, relaxation - my butt!!!
    
    There is no good reason to play the game. That's my philosophy. But I'm
    hooked. That's why I call golf an affliction, not a game at all. For
    cryin out loud, I could do drugs - feel better and certainly more
    relaxed - and do it far cheaper (I'd guess) than play golf. But
    NOooooooo!!! I gotta play this insidious thing camoflaged as a game! I
    was teamed with a British fellow last year who explained it all to
    well, at least for me. He said "Well there old chap, you should know
    that this game was devised by the Scots to drive us English bloody
    crazy!" As it turns out, my mother was born and raised in London.
    
    And so my friends out there who are similarly afflicted, if you tell me
    to relax, you might as well be telling me to change my grip, watch my
    backswing, stand closer to the ball, stand farther away, keep my elbow
    tucked in, do this, do that, its all the bloody same...period! I, for
    one, gotta realize that I'll never relax until I've hacked my favorite golf
    courses down to the earthworms, bent and broken every golf club in my
    bag, and spent the rent trying to relax.                  
    
    
    

    I have some further thoughts on this subject after
    watching the skins game last weekend. It was interesting
    to listen to the players getting on themselves after 
    making a bad shot or bad club selection. It sounded just
    like me! However, what I noticed was that by the time they
    had reached their ball, the bad shot had been forgotten
    and it was time to get down to business. I will still
    be dwelling on some past mistake while trying to setup
    for my next shot, and next, and next, etc.etc. Sometimes
    takes two or three holes to get over it. SO, I guess it is
    okay to get on myself when I make a mistake but I need to
    learn to leave it behind as I go to the next shot. This is
    something that comes up in the notesfile from time to time
    so maybe if I talk about it enough I will figure out how to
    behave that way when I play. I don't get mad at the range
    when I hit a bad shot because there is no score involved and
    I understand that there will always be a few mistakes in every
    round but it is hard to hold the frustration back when I see
    my score slipping away!!!!
    
    THE MAD HACKER

What I think is interesting is how often the players blame some one/thing other
than themselves.  They push the putt and say it never broke ...  I guess it's
easier to maintain your mental piece of mind when you know that you aren't the
cause of your woes.

Unfortunately I find that I relax best when I'm playing well.  However one
round I had last year reinforces the original point.  I was playing Stow - South
and was grinding it out the hole front nine.  Shot even bogey golf.  I decided
that this was not the round that I was going to shoot a new course record so 
I relaxed started the back nine with a couple bogeys & then proceeded to
shoot 38!  What a swing.

Larry

    Things I noticed replaying the skins game and analyzing each shot;
    
    	1.	Each golfer thought about the shot, then when they were
    		sure of what they wanted to do... they all enter a
    		pre-swing routine. If the routine gets disturbed, they start
    	        from the beginning and do it again.
    
    	2.	Each golfer's pre-swing routine involved movement of the 
    		feet, wrists, arms... which would repeat in sequence. 
    		This to avoid tension creeping into the muscles.
    
    	3.      A lot of times (especially in pressure situations) each
    		one would take a big breath, and release. Then begin the
    		putt or shot.
    
    	4.	Only on tee-shots demanding distance did the backswing 
    		ever come near parallel with the ground. All other shots
    	        they would take the swing back no more than 3/4 . When
    		Arnie stuck it 3 ft away from 100 yards out with a PW, he 
    		went back 1/2 way. Also, when Jack stuck one 3 feet away 
    		from 150 with a 9 iron, he only took it back a little more 
    		than 1/2 way.
    
    		Ok ok I know I dwelled on this when I reviewed the other
    		skins game when Curtis won a Billion Dollars... It's just
    		that I have a terrible problem taking the club back too far, 
    		I can usually see the club head before I start the downswing.
    		So please bear with me, if I talk about it enough maybe
    		I'll listen????
    
    		
    		Congratulations Pete! Hope the new LPGA champ is doing
    		well!
    
    		Walt
    
    	

    Dear Mad Hacker (and Walt)
    TMH, will you stop listening to these +20  "psycho's" that tell
    you that practise makes you tense.It should make you less tense
    if your improving on something your working on. Tell that to Larry
    Bird, Carl Yaz, etc etc. Golf is not a relaxing social walk in
    the park. It's enjoyable war. You enjoy by winning. I relax when
    I win. If i didn't practise ,I'd be a plus 20 like this weirdo!
    
    Walt, do you have a laser VCR that measures backswings?
    All you got to do is watch Fred Couples pre swing and mental
    set up. I think he's the best at it. They can extend their 
    backswings depending on the shot, but  if I try , I'm thinking
    about my backswing  instead of hitting the ball!
    Ray Floyd and Leonard Thompson go "flat" for a shorter
    tighter, BSwing, but I'm told you start to lose a good shoulder
    turn, which I don't know if true.
                 Ang,45 days to T time.
    
     

    
     Walt,
    
      Thank you. It's tough enough the poor kid may look ike me I only hope
    she dosn't swing like me.
    
    Pete
    
    

    What is a laser VCR? 

    RE: .10
    
    Pete if she looks like you I'll contribute to the plastic surgery fund
    to get her fixed up.  If she swings like you I'll keep her in my
    prayers.   :-)
    
    
    
    						KO

     
    Oh thank you KO I feel so much better now. Speaking of now. Now that
    I have you on the line she was noticing the new clubs you made for me
    and was very impressed. She was wondering if you could put a set
    together for her. She likes the pings with a few small changes. She
    would like a 4 inch stiff s300 dynamic gold shaft, the clud head itself
    should be pink of course with the word BOOM written across the face and
    the grip should be made of the same material used to make pacifiers,
    just in case she is having a bad day. 
    
    As far as payment goes she was wondering if she could pay you with
    strained peas?  
    
    She can be reached by dialing 862-CACA
     

    RE: Pete
    
    >>    She can be reached by dialing 862-CACA
    
    I just got off the phone with her.  I have to admit her command of the
    language is better than yours.  The specs for the clubs are no problem
    and when I asked her about payment she said ' well dad has to be good 
    for something.'	:-)
    
    
    					KO

    re:  BTOVT::HOGANP
    
    Too bad it wasn't a boy, you could have named him Ben.

    RE: KO
    
     > "she said dad has to be good for something.............................
    
                         WROOOONG!

    I tend to be much more relaxed when I'm playing well, and when
    I'm playing well I get this feeling of self confidence that
    convinces me that I just can't do anything wrong. Without that
    feeling of self confidence, I don't see how anyone can relax.
    When I'm playing my best, I don't usually have to talk myself
    into making the good shot; you know the routine: "Are you 
    positioned right? How's your grip? Ok now, just relax...easy
    swing" etc etc. How can you relax when you're putting so many
    demands on yourself.
    
    I'd also like to extend my congratulations to you Pete on your
    new little "golf" bundle of joy (has she got a name?). The stork
    must have been wearing knickers 8^).
    
    Patti

    
    Hi Patti,
    
     Her name is Meghan Josephie Hogan. I was trying to convince my
    wife, who is feeling great as is the baby, to name her Meghan
    Bemjamin Hogan but she would have no part of that. Thank you for
    your note.
    
    Pete

    Dear "Ramrod"
         a laser VCR is one that can geometrically caluclate the
    exact degree of backswing on each golfer, freeze frame it, and
    send it to your graphics printer, ready for analysis.
    Only Walt has one , and he is keeping it a secret!
                              ...Ang... IPYL
    

    Hi Angie,
    
    	It's really a simple thing to check... backswing that is.
    
    	Like when we team up again this season, you'll say "Geee Walt,
    	don't you think you went too far back on your backswing?" And
    	I'll say "Oh yeah! I remember now. Your not suppose to take it
    	back until the clubhead touches the ground!"    ;)
    
    	Not long till the season opener down the Cape!
    
    	Walt
    
    PS.
    	Angie- send mail if you want get in on a Cape run....
    	
    
    
    	

    Walt,
      I know...I was just being a wise guy!
    Must be cabin fever getting to me!
    
    I would be up for a "Cape run...during March??
    I'll mail you.
    PS, heading for Sawgrass on the 16th for a weeK.
    I'm blowing my next 3
     years vac  $ on this one   , say hi to the "E" girl !
    Keep that  swing going!
    A.